Reported Plan to Target Belgian PM Thwarted
Belgian authorities have taken into custody three suspects accused of planning an strike on the nation's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors characterized the suspected plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the PM and additional politicians.
During searches conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, near the PM's home, investigators uncovered a suspected IED and proof that the accused were intending to employ a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the planned victims of the assault were not officially named by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot stated that de Wever was included in the targets.
"The news of a planned strike directed toward PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official declared in a update on social media on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are facing a very real extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three people taken into custody on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and involvement in the activities of a terrorist group all are based in the Antwerp region, according to the legal authorities. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
By late Thursday, one person was let go, while the other suspects were under interrogation and likely to appear in court on the next day.
The prosecution stated that the individuals were detained after a judge ordered inspections of their homes in the location by police officers supported by explosives-trained dogs.
It was during these investigations that they located a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen said at a news conference on Thursday.
Raids also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she added.
The official said that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases initiated in the country this year - more than the full amount of investigations in last year.
During the spring, five individuals were convicted for a scheme last year to strike Belgium's leader while he was holding the position of Antwerp's mayor.
